​Forest Stories Blog

In September of 2013, we welcomed our first group of students from Soundview International Baccalaureate. This year, 5th graders from that group are in 8th grade and recently visited us for their last school visit. It's been wonderful watching them grow, as they in turn watch the plants they've nurtured grow. Our relationship with this school is unique in that the students are able to come back once a month for at least a school year, this allows them to experience long lasting relationships with the space they've helped to restore. We were recently gifted with student authored essays written in reflection of their times with us. Please take a moment to read Derek's thoughts on his service learning experience:

The final numbers are in and we planted 161 native trees and shrubs and spread 20 cubic yards of mulch during our Fall Planting Event on Nov. 19th! The work was completed by a total of 62 volunteers who were neighbors, Soundview students, members of local Girl Scout troops, college students, or from Whale Scout. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and helped reinforce the access trails and increased the amount of native plants within North Creek Forest!

Upcoming Work Party

The beginning of a new year also means the beginning work for a new restoration site! As part of your new year's resolution, or just for fun, join us on Saturday, January 7th for our opening of the 242nd St. Restoration Site from 10:00am - 1:00pm. If interested, please sign-up via our website's volunteer page. Thanks!

By Marin Kaetzel

My older sister, Amy, and I playing in our backyard in 1979, surrounded by North Creek Forest.

My name is Marin Kaetzel. I’m blessed to live on the edge of North Creek Forest. In fact, this is the second time I’ve lived with this beautiful forest as my “backyard”. I grew up in Bothell and have so many fond memories of exploring what we neighborhood kids simply referred to as “the woods”. Tall evergreens, lush ferns and red huckleberries guided us as we all made our way to and from school on the dirt path connecting our dead end street to Maywood Hills Elementary.

Back then North Creek Forest was much larger than its current 64 acres and was the only thing between our neighborhood and I-405.

The forest always felt like an extension of my home. My family was once “adopted” by a family of raccoons who visited us every night and dined on our cats’ food. My dad found endless joy watching Steller’s jays gather and hide peanuts he’d faithfully throw on the back deck each day. Even when tragedy struck in the loss of the family cat to a coyote, we knew that too was just part of living in harmony with the forest. I’ll never forget when they first started bulldozing our beloved woods...

With the final purchase under contract, the City of Bothell is wasting no time and we are thrilled to announce that the master plan for North Creek Forest will start in early 2017! The City has posted the RFQ for a landscape architect to facilitate this exciting project.

The UW Restoration Ecology Network (UW-REN) is a tremendously valuable partner. Each year, since 2011, a team of UW students has planned and executed a restoration project in North Creek Forest. This year's team brings multiple ecological capabilities ranging from invasive removal, plant identification, technical skills including video editing and GIS mapping, as well as multiple accounts of project management experience. Read on to learn more about this year's team, and join us for their first work party on January 7, 2017 to meet them in person.

It’s true! The City of Bothell has authorized the final purchase of North Creek Forest!By mid-January, all 64 acres will be permanently protected as a forestland parkthat benefits both wildlife and people.

Your generosity and unwavering support made this possible. Thank you!

Six years ago when we embarked on this undertaking, Friends of North Creek Forest made a promise to the City of Bothell to continue partnering after the entire forest was saved. And while the purchase of the final parcel is a tremendous achievement, the work is not done. In fact, in many ways, the most exciting part lies ahead!

Endorsements from hundreds of individuals and groups helped this effort grow from a neighborhood project into a community movement. That grassroots movement is what saved this forest. Your generosity helps follow through on not only the commitment to long-term stewardship of North Creek Forest, but also to make it accessible. Your gift today supports planning for a trail network that will protect the forest’s habitat value and important storm water benefits, while also soliciting and incorporating community input and needs.

Friends of North Creek Forest’s work has always been about more than saving trees and land. It has also been about ensuring access for everyone to be inspired by the forest and learn the lessons it can teach us.

Our Education Program:

Promotes and enhances nature relationships with robust community experiences.

Provides continuous, evolving classroom to field curriculum in support of K-12 standards.

Empowers teachers, professors, and students of all ages to reach beyond classroom experiences and apply learned theories and strategies in the field.

Together we will make good on the promise to protect and learn from this forest. Through its ability to teach, heal, and inspire, North Creek Forest serves as a launching pad for learning how to take better care of ourselves, each other, and our world.